S’Kir
Island of the Unseen Gods
Hell.
The only way to describe the pain in my leg.
It burned and throbbed and bled. There was no bliss of unconsciousness for me. I didn’t understand what kind of evil this was tearing my leg apart.
“Kimber?”
That was Drez’s voice.
I snapped my eyes open and saw I was on a litter and being loaded onto a buckboard. I found Drez as well as Jallina standing over me.
“What happened? What did they do to my leg?”
“Dorian said you were shot,” Roran answered as he climbed on board with me
“Shot? With an arrow?”
“No.” Drez climbed on the back and walked to the driver’s seat where he helped Jallina up. “No arrows. Master Dorian called it a hand cannon.”
Drez swatted the horses into motion.
“Rilen!” I exclaimed, realizing he wasn’t there.
“He went back to help Dorian,” Jallina said.
I settled, but another round of horrible pain ripped through my leg as Drez hit a bump. I yelped.
“Hang on,” Drez said. “The best healer in S’Kir is waiting for us at the temple.”
Roran glanced at the two driving the buckboard. “Who?”
“Doctor Symi, of course,” Jallina said.
I glanced out from the buckboard as the city passed by. Through the pain, I could see parts were ripped apart, left in rubble, and smoldering from fires. I wanted to ask so many questions, but I couldn’t get them out through my clenched teeth.
“Drez…” Jallina’s worried voice drifted to me.
“I see it.” He tossed a look back at us. “Hang on. I’m sorry, but this is going to jostle you.
The horse swerved left. I slipped across the wood and hit the side of the carriage, and had to brace with my good leg to keep from flying off the back through the open gate.
“What the hell!” Roran snapped and grabbed the gate to slam it closed. “This isn’t the way to the temple.”
“No, but we can’t go that way. We have to go around and use the back entrance,” Jallina said. “There was a group of marauders holding a cross street.”
I looked at Roran who asked the question. “Marauders?”
Drez shook his head. “Later. We have to get to Doctor Symi.”
I didn’t argue. I was starting to feel dizzy and foggy from the pain. I tucked myself into the corner and pulled the blanket around me.
Roran studied me. “Are you cold, ilati?”
I nodded. Roran lay down next to me and moved inside the blanket.
“That’s from the blood loss.” Roran wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. He wrapped the blanket around us. “We’ll get you fixed up.”
“I’m scared, Roran,” I whispered.
“Me too,” he admitted. “But Symi is the best doctor in S’Kir. You’ll be better in a few hours. He just needs to fix your leg.”
Shivering, I tucked my head into his shoulder. “Why…why did they attack us?”
“I don’t know, ilati.” His warmth seeping into me, the shivering began to slow.
“What does that mean?” His shirt collar was filthy, and I brushed at it. “All three of you call me that.”
“Three?” Jallina hissed from the front seat.
I lifted my hand and offered her a rude gesture.
Roran laughed quietly and brushed a strand of hair off my face. “It means goddess.”
“That’s a bit of overkill,” I whispered, smirking.
“Why? We worship you, don’t we?”
Even through the pain, I could feel my nipples pearl at his veiled suggestion.
I breathed carefully. “It really hurts, Roran.”
“Rest. We’ll be at the temple soon. Get you all fixed up.” Roran put his hand on my forehead. “Relax, ilati. You’ve done what you were meant to do.”
I snuggled up to him, trusting him as I realized I had never been able to trust before. Despite the pain, I fell asleep.
* * *
Doctor Symi was a neat, tidy man. His clothes were simple, clean, and unobtrusive with the symbol of his profession embroidered neatly above his pocket on his shirt. His cocoa skin seemed to be the right color of warm and comforting for his profession. With close-cropped hair, his honey-colored eyes stood out and seemed to read the soul.
“Mistress, I am sorry that you’re in pain. And I regret that I will have to cause more. Our supply of painkillers has been depleted, badly, and there just isn’t enough to go around.”
I didn’t really understand why they wouldn’t have painkillers, but I was more concerned about what happened. “What hit me?”
“It’s a bullet.” Jallina offered the answer from her seat next to me. “Master Dorian said it—from a hand cannon. There have been dozens of people in the research field for years trying to shrink the cannon to something a person could carry. Our swords have always been more effective.”
“There’s a tiny projectile in your leg that we will have to get out,” Symi said.
A look of confusion passed over Roran’s face. “Doctor Symi, you’re from South End. A day by train. How are we here?”
Drez and Jallina shot each other a glance and shared it with Symi.
Jallina finally answered him. “He’s been here a week. We called for him when you went into the cave.”
A jolt went through me. “We only went into the cave…” I trailed off, studying their faces, pausing to deal with the pain. “How long? How long were we in that cave?”
Drez answered. “Eighteen days.”
“What?” Roran was as shocked as I was. “How is that even possible?”
“We were so encased in magic,” I whispered.
“It felt like hours, not days.” Roran was truly shocked.
“The Breaking was one of the most magnificent things most people had ever seen,” Drez said. “It was a beautiful dance of destruction that moved mountains and changed the sea.”
“I was afraid the magic was never going to let you out of the cave,” Jallina said. “That breaking the Spine broke you.”
I turned to Doctor Symi. “I’m not the first one to be injured, am I? That’s why there is so few painkillers.”
Doctor Symi nodded. “That’s correct. I have been treating wounds of all terrible kinds as I’ve come up on the train. Whatever those… weapons are, they are destructive. We’ve lost many innocent people already.”
“Eighteen days…” I looked at Drez, who just nodded.
Jallina cleared her throat. “Doctor Symi will have to cut into your leg to get the bullet out.”
Roran let out a breath. “Gods, I didn’t want this to happen.” He looked at Drez. “You’re a spy for Kimber. I need you to be a spy for all of us. I need to know everything about these weapons and why we weren’t told about them.”
Drez nodded sharply. “Of course. I have a lot of information already gathered.”
Doctor Symi clapped his hands. “Out. Out, out.”
“Everyone?”